Algeria hostage crisis: William Hague admits he doesn't know how many Britons are held

William Hague warned the hostage crisis in Algeria was “dangerous and rapidly
developing” and said it was unclear how many Britons were being held
captive, amid reports prisoners are being forced to wear explosive belts.

The Foreign Secretary denounced the “cold-blooded murder” of a Briton at a gas field in Algeria. Armed Islamists are holding dozens of hostages at the gas field - which is jointly-operated by BP - including nationals from the United States, France, Britain, Norway and Japan.

Algerian troops have the site surrounded, deep in the Sahara desert. An unidentified hostage who spoke to France 24 television said prisoners were being forced to wear explosive belts. Their captors were heavily armed and had threatened to blow up the base if the Algerian army tried to storm it.

The hostage-takers said were holding dozens of Westerners including French, British and Japanese citizens, as well as seven Americans in reprisal for Algeria's cooperation with the French military intervention in Mali.

The In Amenas gas field in Algeria close to the Libyan border

The Foreign Secretary described the Islamists' justification as "a convenient excuse" but said the operation was likely to have been planned before French forces deployed in Mali.

"Whatever excuse is being used by terrorists and murderers, there is no excuse. This is the cold-blooded murder of people going about their business," Mr Hague said during a visit to Australia.

"While sadly I can confirm the death of one British national, I can't confirm at this point the exact number of hostages held," he added.

Mr Hague said BP was doing "a good job" of keeping families up to date with developments and vowed to "work around the clock to resolve this crisis".

Statoil, the Norwegian oil group sharing the plant with BP, which has 12 employees involved in the situation, says it has beefed up security at several of its other sites.

Mr Hague would not speculate on whether the interventions in Mali or in Libya may have motivated the Islamic terrorists but noted the attack appears to have been planned before the deployment of French forces to Mali .

“I would be cautious about ascribing this to the French intervention in Mali,” he said.

“Of course that is a convenient excuse to put. Usually operations like this take longer to plan than the last week’s events in Mali. But we can’t be sure about that at this stage… Whatever excuse is being used by the terrorists and murderers who are involved , there is no excuse for this behaviour.”

Two Britons were reported to have been wounded in the attack along with a Norwegian and three Algerians.

Mr Hague described the situation as "dangerous and rapidly-developing" and said that the Foreign Office had sent a rapid deployment team of addition diplomats to Algeria.

While Washington and Tokyo said their nationals were among the hostage, French President Francois Hollande said it was not certain that French citizens were being held.

French news channel France 24 reported that Malaysian and Filipino nationals were also among the hostages. The Western hostages were reportedly bound and being kept under close guard by the gunmen.

<noframe>Twitter: Sky News Newsdesk - Algerian State press service says 30 Algerian workers have escaped from compound where hostages are currently being held</noframe>

Algerian Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia, speaking on national television, insisted Algiers would not negotiate with the "terrorists", who he said were surrounded by the army and security services.

The group appeared to want to leave the country with the hostages, which Algiers had rejected, he said. They were "around 20 men from the region", he added, denying that they had come from either Mali or Libya.